ET maps a route home on Google

It seems as if ET has been caught phoning home – by Google Street View.

A misty image in the shape of the film’s friendly alien was captured behind a bush next to a mysterious beam of light.

Beam me up: The misty ‘alien’ next to a mysterious light

But opinion is divided between whether it is a visitor from another world or a simple trick of the light.

‘On close inspection, the similarities with ET are obvious but it’s hard to say with any certainty what exactly it is,’ said Malcolm Robinson, head of the London-based Strange Phenomena Investigations.

‘Of added interest is the strange beam of light to the right, which I cannot explain either.’

The ‘alien’, captured in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey, is believed to be the first to be snapped using Google Maps’ new technology.

‘New York is only an hour’s drive away so, you never know, he might be eyeing up a trip to the Big Apple,’ said Nick Sawyer, who spotted it online.